Monthly Archive: August, 2005

A REMINDER.

If you’re intested, here’s the last Korea Society Kremlinology. Ambassador Donald Gregg, whose tenure ought to be remembered for the collapse of pro-American sentiment, may resign.

Next time you curse high gas prices, think of what the Chinese are putting up with these days.

Next time you curse high gas prices, think of what the Chinese are putting up with these days.

OK, NOW what’s the deal with Blogspot access in Korea? Again, my Korea traffic is down to a trickle . . . not completely gone, mind you, but low enough to be a major aberration. Readers?

Kifaya. The Washington Post has an interesting video report on the Egyptian opposition. It’s not entirely encouraging; the Muslim Brotherhood is the largest opposition group, and their stated aim is the establishment of sharia.

While I would agree that the current South Korean government has tried to intimidate and weaken opposition newspapers, I nonconcur with the implication that disputing the accuracy of articles is a subterfuge for censorship. I’m not comfortable with ajumma-state arbitration/oversight boards that are vulnerable to political packing–fair enough. I have the same concerns about our own FCC and the Fairness Doctrine. But if the Chosun Ilbo wants free-speech martyr status, it will first need to persuade me that there’s a...

The Chosun Ilbo has an interesting piece on the subject. I’m not among those who would try to minimize the cost, although the estimates I’ve read are so diverse that it’s impossible to come up with a statistically significant average. Some have estimated that it would cost a trillion dollars. Others have suggested that the Korean “peace dividend” would pay for it, which I think is simply wrong. Reuinification will mean a dramatic deterioration in security over the short-term, as...

They will never rest in peace. Christopher Hitchens recently grabbed me when he spoke of those who would “ventriloquize” the dead for their own purposes. Do you suppose these two girls ever imagined, or wanted, to become icons for emotional manipulation in the service of repression? It’s always tragic, of course, when a life lasts for so many fewer years than it should; sadder still when that loss was both preventable and mostly unmourned. It isn’t my intent to ventriloquize...

The Human Rights Commission is calling on the cops to read people a Miranda warning at the time of an arrest. I realize what an extraordinary reach of activism it is to suggest that the Korean legal system should recognize the precedental authority of a case decided in a foreign court decades ago, so overlook the flimsiness of it on legal grounds. From the few Korean appellate opinions I’ve read, the concepts of judicial restraint, rules of statutory construction, and...

Kaesong Update: The Commerce Department is mulling over a South Korean request to move high-tech communications gear into North Korea. Given North Korea’s awful record on proliferation and dual use misuse, its lack of transparency, and its intransigence in disarmament talks, this would seem to be an easy decision.

“My heart feels like it’s going to burst when I think that you’ve left your family to come to see me,” Ms. Kim said. “I wish I could see my grandchildren and daughter in law before I die.”According to Unification Ministry, 486 South Korean civilians abducted to North Korea since the Korean War are still alive in the communist country “• 435 of them were fishermen.

August 15, 2005, a date on which more bullshit flowed than one snarky blogger could possibly step around, so I’ll let the stories pretty much speak for themselves. In case you’re new here, this is the anniversary of the date on which American soldiers–supported by Russian invaders further north–entered Seoul before passing the reigns of government to the Koreans themselves. Yes, things could have been faster and smoother, and Korea’s first rulers were certainly not Jeffersonian democrats, but what’s most...

The following bloggers report that they’ve been blocked in Korea: The Asia Pages, The Big Hominid, and The Lost Nomad. Simon World claims it affects both Blogger and Typepad, which would seem to affect both this site and NKZone. Some commenters on these sites report being able to load the pages, but I’m not sure who’s in Korea, and who’s on or off-post. Readers in Korea, can you read me? What an Orwellian way that would be to celebrate one’s...

My deepest thanks to Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute for agreeing to a telephone interview. Eberstadt is one of Washington’s most highly regarded Korea experts. The interview ended up lasting a full hour. Nothing has been edited out, although I missed a word here and there because I’m not a stenographer. Still, this is pretty close to a verbatim transcript; Nick Eberstadt is one of those rare individuals who speaks in complete sentences. All comments in brackets and...

My deepest thanks to Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute for agreeing to a telephone interview for OFK readers. Eberstadt is one of Washington’s most highly regarded Korea experts. The interview ended up lasting a full hour. Nothing has been edited out save one abortive “I don’t know” answer, although I may have I missed a few words because I’m no stenographer. Still, this is pretty close to a verbatim transcript. Nick Eberstadt is one of those rare individuals...

The Chosun Ilbo recently made the grave mistake of commissioning a survey of young citizens’ attitudes to commemorate the 60th anniversary of independence from Japan. The Chosun deserves credit for reporting the distressing results rather than burying them, but the factual basis for some of its analysis is not evident to the reader: The survey by Gallup Korea of 833 individuals born between 1980 and 1989 also found a marked shift in attitude to North Korea and the South’s traditional...